Over in Somalia, the two largest militant groups, al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, announced they are merging and "threatened attacks against the African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu as well as attacks in Uganda and Burundi."

And the CIA forms a task force to investigate the impact of Wikileaks -- with an appropriate name: WTF.

I am -- for lack of a better phrase -- utterly burned out on the government machine that never seems to really change course, no matter who sits at the helm. The military-industrial complex has morphed into the military-corporate-surveillance complex, and it's tentacles just keep reaching and digging into everything we do, say, and think. When this year ends next week, I will have had my fill of the intrusions on my constitutional rights, continued or expanded by our "audacious" president.